Sheriff’s Office To Compensate Reserve Deputies For Patrol Duties
Mahaska County Sheriff Russ Van Renterghem discusses his plan to use reserve deputies to the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Mahaska County Sheriff Russ Van Renterghem approached the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors on Monday to get the OK to pay reserve deputies $10 an hour.
Reserve Deputies are currently compensated for doing transports for the county, but the reserves aren’t compensated for any special events or other events that they help cover.
Van Renterghem asked to compensate those reserve deputies for the time they may be on patrol.
With a deputy currently out on extended medical leave, and vacation and holiday time, law enforcement coverage in the county can be thin, or the department pays more in overtime to their current staff.
Van Renterghem hopes to alleviate some of those problems by asking the four certified reserve deputies to help fill that gap. For their efforts, they would be paid $10 an hour.
The Supervisors expressed concern that Van Renterghem may come back next year looking to add another full-time deputy position. Van Renterghem assured them that is not the case and is only looking to utilize the reserves to supplement his full-time staff.
The supervisors approved of the measure and voted in favor of allowing reserve deputies to be compensated $10 an hour for patrol duties when assigned by the sheriff.
Mahaska County Secondary Roads added two unfilled positions.
Jacob Bell and Andrew Rust were added to the payroll for the Mahaska County Secondary Roads.
The Supervisors also approved a 28E agreement with the State of Iowa and the City of Oskaloosa for a shared salt facility.
The board also rejected a request to use the secondary roads building located at Truax for a private function.
Mahaska County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Doland expressed concern about the liability for such use.
The facility is used for elections, and 4-H members use the spot for meetings. Doland recommended that usage of the facility be stopped until a policy is in place for usage of those facilities, saying “we need to lay out some criteria.”
“Even if the 4-H is meeting in there, we’re going to need to develop some sort of policy,” added Doland.
Van Weelden made the motion to deny the request from the private individual for the use of the facility. Doland seconded the motion, and the request for usage was denied by the supervisors.
In other matters, the board voted to appoint members to Mahaska County Solid Waste Commission. Those appointed are; Peggy Wright, John Jacobs, Alan DeBruin, Mark Groenendyk.
The board approved and executed an Amendment to the Agreement for Private Development with The Welder’s Shield LLC and Co-Line Welding Inc. in the NW Urban Renewal Area.
The board approved Resolution #2017-21, Authorizing Advancement of costs for an Urban Renewal Project and Certification of Expenses incurred by the county for payment under Iowa Code Section 403.19.
